BC Fast-tracks Service Area Expansions to Help Reopening

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Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken

Category: Latest News Latest News

Published: 22 May 2020 22 May 2020

The BC Government announced this morning an expedited process to fast-track approval for expanded service areas for manufacturers (including winery tasting rooms/lounges), food-primary licensees and liquor-primary licensees (those who are permitted to reopen). This process is designed to allow licensees to expand their current "red-lined" service areas in order to accommodate public health orders and protocols such as social-distancing requirements. 

The press release is here: Patio, Service Area Expansions Support Re-opening. Online applications can be made here: Covid Temporary Extension Application

Reopening Orders Posted for BC - Effective Tuesday May 19th

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Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken

Category: Latest News Latest News

Published: 16 May 2020 16 May 2020

The BC Provincial Health Officer has posted a new health order that permits the reopening of restaurants, certain liquor primaries and manufacturer tasting rooms, all effective Tuesday May 19th, with restrictions on operations and capacity. Note that most bars/nightclubs that do not offer meal service must remain closed.

In addition, an order posted yesterday requires that all BC employers (i.e. all businesses with staff) also must create and post (including on your web site) a COVID19 workplace safety plan. See the Worksafe BC site for details on this.

The original order contained some differences between the restrictions applicable to different categories but that order has now been revised to create consistency. For the most part, the significant restrictions contained in the reopening order now include:

• Must create 2 metre separation between patrons who are not in the same party.
• Maximum 6 customers per table.
• Maximum 50% of usual capacity.
• No events at establishment that include more than 50 people (I read this as per event, not as an overall capacity maximum).
• If practical, maintain contact info of patrons for contact tracing purposes.

Please read the order for full details. There is no expiry date on the order and it is not effective until May 19th so reopening cannot occur until then.

Article Updated May 21st to reflect revised and reissued health order.

New Subject Areas Added to BC Winery Compliance Subscription

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Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken

Category: Latest News Latest News

Published: 12 May 2020 12 May 2020

We are pleased to announce that our InterProvincial Winery Compliance subscription (available through our sister web site, Alca Intelligence) has been expanded and now includes additional subject areas in addition to InterProvincial Shipping Compliance. As a result, we have renamed the subscription as the "BC Winery Compliance Subscription". 

The subscription now provides access to information in multiple categories. More are planned in due course. The subject areas now include: 

InterProvincial Shipping Compliance (3 separate articles - this is the original subject area)

Agricultural Land Commission Compliance (1 article - including an explanation of the problematic new 5% development rule)

BC Winery Compliance (3 articles - including explanations of the rules related to contract manufacturing and the differences between commercial and land-based wineries)

As before, the subscription is an annual service which provides immediate access to all information on the web site plus 12 months of email notifications related to any significant changes in the covered subject areas. Sign up for the BC Winery Compliance Subscription here.

Finally, additional information related to COVID19 is also available on the Alca web site (free access for these resources).

 

Updated COVID19 Analysis for the Wine Sector

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Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken

Category: Latest News Latest News

Published: 08 April 2020 08 April 2020

The following articles have now been posted to our sister website, Alca Intelligence. They provide updated and more detailed analysis and thoughts on the possible consequences for the wine sector from the COVID19 pandemic. The articles include many references to other media sources that I have found to be authoritative and useful. I hope that these articles will be helpful for wine industry businesses in formulating ideas and planning for the months ahead.

• COVID19: Predictions and Analysis - Is an updated and more detailed version of an article originally posted on WineLaw.ca. Now provides more specific information on the potential length and type of ongoing restrictions and how they may affect the industry.
• COVID19: Restrictions Affecting the BC Wine Industry - Provides a listing of and links to the relevant provincial orders and policy changes that are currently affecting the wine industry in British Columbia.
• COVID19 Statistics: Comparisons to Other Jurisdictions - Ongoing and updated statistics on how the various West Coast wine jurisdictions are doing in the battle against the pandemic including comparisons to other places worldwide.

All of these articles are part of our sister website which normally provides subscription-based compliance information for the wine industry (relating to interprovincial shipping, licensing, marketing and the Agricultural Land Commission). However, all COVID19-related articles are accessible free of charge (no subscription needed).